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You Won't Always Find Your Perfect Home, Sometimes

Every person has a different personality. They have different things affecting where they need to live, such as jobs, interests, hobbies, familial commitments and even religious commitments. Then they have different tastes that will greatly influence the kind of property that they will wish to live in. Now, there are only so many properties out there to choose from, so when you’re heading into the real estate market and taking a look at your prospects, don’t be all too surprised if you find that the property you’ve dreamed up or the home that ticks all of your boxes doesn’t actually exist where you want it to. This is why you need to be prepared to find a property as close to your needs as possible and make a few alterations down the line. Here’s everything that you need to know about finding the best property to act as a springboard to start with and then working it up to perfection!

Getting Onto the MarketFirst things first, you need to secure yourself a property of your own. When you head to the rental market, the property that you live in will not ever become your own. You will live under rules and regulations that determine how much you can personalise the property and craft it to become the home that you desire. Instead, you should focus on getting a mortgage to own a property of your own that you will be able to do what you want with. Let’s focus on this for a moment.

Keeping Within Your BudgetYou need to mark out a budget for what you can afford in the long run. Sure you may choose to go upmarket and opt for a property with a mortgage that you can feasibly afford, but won’t have much change left after each monthly payment. If you do this, you need to accept that you will have to accept the property as it is, as you will not necessarily be able to afford alterations and renovations. Perhaps a better path to choose would be to accept a slightly cheaper property and have a little more disposable income to make changes. So, how do you work out what you can afford? Well, you need to use a reliable mortgage calculator. These are relatively simple to use. The first thing that you’re going to have to do is take a thorough look at your own finances. Understanding what money you have available will give you a better idea of what mortgages you will be approved for. Remember that at the end of the day, a mortgage is a type of loan, so a mortgage lender, in a similar fashion to any other form of a lender, isn’t going to hand over money if they don’t feel certain that you’re capable of paying them the full amount back as agreed. If anything, they’re likely to be even more frugal due to the vast quantity of cash that you’re requesting. The easiest way to determine how large a loan you would be accepted for (and consequently what kind of property you should be looking at in the first place), you should make use of the aforementioned mortgage repayment calculator. Here you can input the price of the mortgage you’re interested in, the interest rate attached, and the loan term in years. You will then be given a summary of the amount you would be expected to repay monthly. This will also be broken down into how much you’d be paying off the mortgage each month and how much of the total sum would be interest. This will help you to start making decisions regarding which mortgage you should apply for. You can use a mortgage calculator at any point in the house hunting process. You can use it early on to get a vague idea of what you’re aiming for, and you can then use it later down the line when looking at specific properties with price tags already attached. Just make sure that you will have sufficient cash left after paying the mortgage to be able to make any desired changes to your property.

Saving Your DepositWhen it comes to saving a deposit, you’re just going to have to make sacrifices for a while. Sit down and work out a budget. Note your total income after tax and remove essentials, such as rent payments, food, water, and heating. Bear in mind that even these areas can often be cut down on! Opt for unbranded foods from the markets and cut expensive meat out of your diet and keep your protein levels up with cheaper alternatives such as beans and lentils. Consider moving somewhere a little cheaper if possible, reducing your rent payments and putting the extra towards the home of your dreams in the not-so-distant future. Take showers instead of baths. Then you can reduce non-essential spending. Sure, you still need to socialise and meet up with your friends. But consider inviting people round for a home cooked meal and film on the television, or free days out to museums and other cultural activities. You can also save huge amounts of money on transport. If you don’t absolutely need your car to get to work, you can save huge amounts on finance, tax, insurance, and fuel by opting for public transport instead. Making small changes to your lifestyle like this will see much larger amounts of your cash freed up, which can be placed in a savings account towards your deposit!

Scouring Available Properties and Putting In An OfferOnce you have your budget, it’s time to start house hunting. Ideally, you want to keep your eyes open for a property that is relatively plain and won’t require extensive work just to make it habitable and to your taste. This could essentially prove to be money down the drain. Instead, you should choose a property that is close to what you want and only requires a few tweaks here and there to craft it to perfection. If you’ve followed our previous advice, you can put an offer in straight away when you do find the property that you want, instead of saving desperately only to see it swept from beneath your feet before you’ve accumulated the sufficient cash. The only worry you should have at this point once you find a property you’re interested in is whether to agree on the set price and miss out on the chance of securing a better deal, or to offer a lower price and run the risk of missing out on your dream home should someone else offer more. The best thing to do is to play your cards close to your chest. Downplay how much you’re willing to spend when you meet your agent. If you view a property that you fall in love with, don’t declare your love right there and then in front of everyone. You need to act nonchalant and laid back as possible. You then run everything to your advantage, keep in control, and make the best decision possible in each given situation.

Planning Your RenovationsThough you may be tempted to start planning renovations at the same time, as househunting, you might want to place a hold on anything beyond deliberation until the property is actually secured. Why? Well, you can never be 100% sure that you will get the property that you want and you don’t want to waste time making big plans for it only to be let down early on in the process. Once you’ve actually secured your property, is it time to start considering renovations! Here are some common and popular renovations that might suit you down to a tee.

Loft ConversionsMany of us will find what seems to be the perfect property, only to realise that it’s one room short for the number of people we want to fit inside. This is perhaps why loft conversions are becoming increasingly popular, as people are warming to the concept of saying goodbye to their loft as storage space and increasing numbers are opting to create a bedroom out of the disused attic. This kind of work is more likely to be disruptive to the usual run of the mill, as work will be carried out inside of your home rather than simply outside. Construction workers will have to be supervised in your property and bring their tools up and down the stairs to the workspace. However, once everything is complete, you’ll realise that any interference was worth it. Consider investing in skylights to allow more natural light into your new living space!

GaragesAlmost any car owner would much rather leave their beloved vehicle in a secure garage than on the street outside. This would reduce its exposure to the elements, makes it less prone to being vandalised, and can also reduce its insurance premium! Many people simply accept that their home doesn’t have a garage, but if you have a detached or semi-detached property, why not consider having one built?

As you can see, getting your hands on the home of your dreams is a gargantuan task and is going to require a lot of hard work and effort on your part. But have patience, and everything will be worth the wait and investment in the end?

You only live once, so chase what you love and live a good life. Mom of all trades, a happy mom to three children, works as a Full-time Online Freelancer, mommy blogger since 2013. Maintaining a positive attitude despite of a busy, crazy, and chaotic mommy life. For business, email me laigamboa8@yahoo.com.